METHODOLOGY FOR ASSESSING THE ORNAMENTALITY OF WOODY PLANTS IN THE FAR NORTH

Abstract

The literature widely presents methods that allow evaluating and comparing the decorative qualities of woody plants of different genera and families. But there is no universal method for assessing the decorative qualities of woody plants and the existing methods are not applicable to high latitudes. The purpose of the work was to develop approaches and methods for assessing the decorativeness of woody plants in the Far North. The following approaches were used: the exclusion of the descriptive characteristics of the criterion, the introduction of a question-answer (yes or no) system, the introduction of measurable criteria; accounting of at least 3–5-year data of phenological observations. The assessment of the decorative qualities of woody plants consists of evaluating the crown architectonics, foliage, flowering and fruiting. It includes reduction coefficients that take into account the amount of plant organ damage. The overall assessment of the object can be represented by the sum of all criteria assessments or the decorativeness curve. The advantages of the proposed methodology are the exclusion of the descriptive characteristics of the criterion and the use of criteria calculated on the basis of real data on the plant, while providing the possibility of refining the coefficients for other places of growth.